This Monday I did my first wedding shoot. I was second camera to my friend and fellow SD City college student Paloma. It was a courthouse wedding without a reception, but the shoot involved multiple locations and a pretty large family entourage, so while it was only a four hour shoot rather than a full day wedding ceremony and reception, it was a good approximation to a full wedding.
We started by meeting the bride, groom and close family in a large top floor bridal hotel suite just off the bay on the west side of downtown San Diego. We got some detail shots as well as the bride getting ready while the groom was getting ready in a smaller attached room. The couple and family were all friendly and easy to get along with and I didn’t feel like we were intruding as I had anticipated might be the case.
It was a relaxed event, not traditionally formal, and had a loose schedule. While there were nerves and some happy tears it was really casual. That helped myself and Paloma feel comfortable despite our limited experience covering an event of that size. Initially Paloma asked me to just assist with lights and gear, but it became clear that we needed photography in two places at once so I served as a second shooter rather than just an assistant. I was happy to shoot and felt confident I could cover the details needed from the groom’s parts of the experience. Those were the first look of the groom and his mother, a gift exchange between them, and then some photos of his side of the wedding party. Despite a challenging hotel hallway location the shoot went well and I’m happy I was able to work with them to get some simple, but good poses. As always, there was room for improvement, but I’m happy with the results given the circumstances. An outdoor location with more space would have allowed for more even lighting and a nicer background.
Once the bride was ready Paloma and I coordinated a first look between her and the groom at the bayside a short walk away. I led the groom’s entourage, which was about 10 at that point, out of the hotel, across the street to the bayside near the historic ships. Paloma had a well thought out plan for the meetup and we coordinated the bride’s arrival while the groom was intentionally looking the other direction. It worked really well and I think those were the best shots of the day. It was really sweet to see them genuinely react to each other and relax in each other’s presence.
We made our way into the courthouse where the whole group waited in the large waiting room while the bride and groom filled out paperwork and then waited their turn for the ceremony with a city officiant. Once it was their turn we all made our way into the ceremony room which had pue-like seating and a lectern in the front. It felt like a smaller, more efficient church setting. I shot from the front, facing the bride, knowing she was the most important person in the room while Paloma rotated around them shooting from multiple angles. Someone played bridal entrance music from their cell phone and the bride’s father walked her to the front as is tradition even though it was only five steps. The ceremony was short and sweet, the family shed a few tears, cheered, and then everyone filed out to meet outside.
Paloma led the bride and groom to shoot photos in the building hallways which were historic looking with a modern finish. At that point she used her portable strobe with a softbox rather than just rely on the awkward fluorescent lighting fixtures that line the hallways. She guided them through some playful poses in various spots including pretending to talk on a payphone, entering a historic doorway and some near the elevators. I guided the couple through a few poses as well and am happy with the outcome of photo below.
We then met with the full family downstairs to shoot large group shots. That went quickly and smoothly since they were pretty loose with the arrangements and were all helpful in getting organized. Paloma was preparing to shoot more with just the bride and groom, but the groom had had enough so we called it a day.
Overall it felt like a really nice modern secular wedding ceremony with some sweet moments, was a nice family gathering, and didn’t cost huge amounts of money as is frequent in many weddings. From my perspective it was a huge success.
From the perspective of photographing the event I think Paloma did a great job envisioning and coordinating the shots to capture. You can checkout her work @palomablancaphotography. I’m proud I was able to assist her by providing another photographic perspective, coordination, and gear hauling. It was beautiful in its simplicity and I really had fun being part of it.